Rush Limbaugh Rant

[TempusVox]

As you may know by now, Limbaugh insulted in a very creepy way a college student who recently testified about birth control, by calling her a slut and a prostitute then went even further to suggest she should post video online of her having sex since we all will have "bought and paid for" her sexual escapades by paying for birth control. Other talking heads (see Fox News) chimed in that "we the people" shouldnt have to pay for kids to have sex, which is the damn dumbest thing I ever heard of because this isn't even an issue about taxes paying for anything; but I digress.

Most of you know I'm a conservative. Well let me say I'm a Reagan Conservative, which I guess nowadays makes me a liberal of sorts.    Ron Paul seems to speak to me more politically than anyone else right now, so I guess I'm a little bit of a Libertarian too I guess.

I currently live in two states and Canada. One state is a "blue" state and the other state is "red". Canada is...well it's Canada.  But most of my neighbors and friends there are pretty liberal most of the time. I have lived in many so-called "blue" and "red" states in the past. But I don't think most people are as cut and dry as what people would have them politically defined to be. I think that most of us aren't red or blue, but somewhere a certain shade of "purple" if you will. For example, while I do not really believe in abortions for religious reasons really, I think a woman has a right to choose for herself what she does with her body. Some of my conservative friends question how I can reconcile that as a Christian and my answer is it's not me to decide someone elses salvation before God, nor do I beleive anyone can tell a woman what is best for her or her body. Perhaps as I'm standing outside the Pearly Gates receiving my final judgment and hoping to get in, St. Peter won't say to me, "Tempus, you got that one all wrong." If he does, hopefully it won't be enough to keep me out. Nonetheless that's my problem to deal with and no one elses.  On the issue of gay marriage I do believe that the Bible has clear definitions about marriage, however, if two people love each other, who the hell am I to tell them they shouldn't be accepted in society as a married couple. My Christian beliefs don't give me the right to trample on the beliefs or rights of someone else.  I'm very conservative in fiscal matters, and middle of the road in other areas.

I mention that to tell you this. I used to listen to Rush occassionally waaaaay back when he first hit the national scene. I agreed with many of his talking points regarding Bill Clinton. But even then he would once in a while drop a stink bomb of a comment that would make me cringe. It wasn't long before I began to realize his infammatory comments were too much for me to handle in between the points we agreed on. I tried a few other times to listen to him, but it was too much. I began to find myself not able to tolerate any extreme talking head. Hannity, Beck, Savage; or even those on the other side on NPR, Franken or that douchebag Olbermann.  I think because I'm like I said, more a shade of purple sometimes more than I'm just strictly red or blue.

I think all of this extreme divisive bullshit is so damaging, and we need less and less of that everyday, but it seems all we get is more and more of it. I think Rush is a piece of shit asshole. And people need to wake up and stop listening to these fucking idiots on both sides of the fence. It's destroying our country.

Thats all. Thanks for listening. 

[jammindude]

I applaud your rant....but may I respectfully ask....

Isn't this almost *exactly* what Jon Stewart said on Crossfire all those years ago?   You know the episode I'm talking about?  The one where he absolutely OWNED both of the guys on that show saying they were "tearing the country apart"??

I agree with the sentiment.   But I'm skeptical that it will get any better.   In fact, I'm positive it's going to get worse. 

[TempusVox]

I don't know the Crossfire thing your talking about. I'll try to find it. I'd be interested to see what he had to say.

My point is this really...my wife is a liberal (also more purple really) and has worked for many years in federal politics on Capitol Hill as a chief of staff, legistlative director, and policy wonk, and also as a lobbyist. We have a very dear friend of ours who works behind the scenes in the Democratic party. He's a pretty well known consultant. He and I were talking last week about the Tea Party. I told him that the Tea Party people scare the shit out of me, because it's all or nothing. You either support the dogma 100% or you're evil. WTF? There is NO compromise. He told me that more and more dems are becoming the same way. They too are becoming so leftist that they too ostracize members of their own party who don't agree 100% with their platform and agendas. He said they also scare the shit out of him as a democrat. There have  long been  extremists on both sides of the aisle but i think these idiots like Limbaugh make things sooo much worse for everyone.

God help us if we don't start telling these assholes to shut the hell up.

[Sigz]

The Crossfire thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOfeCCTN_Nk

edit: full version here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFQFB5YpDZE

[Sigz]

While I agree with your general message, are you seriously comparing Glenn Beck to NPR?

[TempusVox]

While I agree with your general message, are you seriously comparing Glenn Beck to NPR?

No...But some of the crap on NPR is so blue it would make the Indigo Girls look browner than a turd; and Beck makes me paranoid and think I need to hide in my safe room with my Bible, my shotgun, and a case of water. What they have in common is they both give me a headache and make me depressed. Maybe that's why they call it Red and Blue. Beck makes me want to grab my gun, and NPR makes me depressed. Red and Blue. Hmmmm...

The Stewart thing was good btw. I love Jon Stewart. I don't agree with him all the time politically, but he speaks to my "purple" side quite often.

[Dr. DTVT]

I'm not a lawyer, but since we have at least one here I want to float this non-political question:  How could that girl NOT win a libel suit against Rush?  He called her a slut and prostitute over national airwaves, there is a bonified record of him saying it that he can't refute (the audio), and there is nothing to suggest that the woman is or ever was a prostitute.

[snapple]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orwXGlXP2O0&feature=related <--Stewart on O'Reilly. Guy is made of pure class and is honest.

[El Barto]

The thing that fascinates me about Limbaugh is that I don't think he has any core beliefs of his own.  All of his positions are perfectly tailored to rile up one sign or slag the other.  His job is to get ratings, and everything he espouses is to that end.   I honestly don't know what the guy really believes, if he believes anything at all.  What I do get is that he can't possibly believe all the things he says on his show. 

[kirksnosehair]

As you may know by now, Limbaugh insulted in a very creepy way a college student who recently testified about birth control, by calling her a slut and a prostitute then went even further to suggest she should post video online of her having sex since we all will have "bought and paid for" her sexual escapades by paying for birth control. Other talking heads (see Fox News) chimed in that "we the people" shouldnt have to pay for kids to have sex, which is the damn dumbest thing I ever heard of because this isn't even an issue about taxes paying for anything; but I digress.

Most of you know I'm a conservative. Well let me say I'm a Reagan Conservative, which I guess nowadays makes me a liberal of sorts.    Ron Paul seems to speak to me more politically than anyone else right now, so I guess I'm a little bit of a Libertarian too I guess.

I currently live in two states and Canada. One state is a "blue" state and the other state is "red". Canada is...well it's Canada.  But most of my neighbors and friends there are pretty liberal most of the time. I have lived in many so-called "blue" and "red" states in the past. But I don't think most people are as cut and dry as what people would have them politically defined to be. I think that most of us aren't red or blue, but somewhere a certain shade of "purple" if you will. For example, while I do not really believe in abortions for religious reasons really, I think a woman has a right to choose for herself what she does with her body. Some of my conservative friends question how I can reconcile that as a Christian and my answer is it's not me to decide someone elses salvation before God, nor do I beleive anyone can tell a woman what is best for her or her body. Perhaps as I'm standing outside the Pearly Gates receiving my final judgment and hoping to get in, St. Peter won't say to me, "Tempus, you got that one all wrong." If he does, hopefully it won't be enough to keep me out. Nonetheless that's my problem to deal with and no one elses.  On the issue of gay marriage I do believe that the Bible has clear definitions about marriage, however, if two people love each other, who the hell am I to tell them they shouldn't be accepted in society as a married couple. My Christian beliefs don't give me the right to trample on the beliefs or rights of someone else.  I'm very conservative in fiscal matters, and middle of the road in other areas.

I mention that to tell you this. I used to listen to Rush occassionally waaaaay back when he first hit the national scene. I agreed with many of his talking points regarding Bill Clinton. But even then he would once in a while drop a stink bomb of a comment that would make me cringe. It wasn't long before I began to realize his infammatory comments were too much for me to handle in between the points we agreed on. I tried a few other times to listen to him, but it was too much. I began to find myself not able to tolerate any extreme talking head. Hannity, Beck, Savage; or even those on the other side on NPR, Franken or that douchebag Olbermann.  I think because I'm like I said, more a shade of purple sometimes more than I'm just strictly red or blue.

I think all of this extreme divisive bullshit is so damaging, and we need less and less of that everyday, but it seems all we get is more and more of it. I think Rush is a piece of shit asshole. And people need to wake up and stop listening to these fucking idiots on both sides of the fence. It's destroying our country.

Thats all. Thanks for listening. 

Respect

[Super Dude]

How do you live in two states and two countries?

[kirksnosehair]

How do you live in two states and two countries?

Be rich

[Super Dude]

I'm rich and I only have one house.

[TL]

I legitimately don't get why anyone pays any attention to Limbaugh in the first place. Any sane person realizes how detestable the man is. I would think any rational person on the right would want to distance themselves as much as possible from him.

One funny thing about that disgusting recent rant of his; he accidentally admitted to millions of people that he doesn't understand how birth control works.

[snapple]

Devil's A: Why should he need to know? He's a dude. We don't need to know HOW it works, just that it does. Saying he ought to know is naive and quite frankly, stupid.

[rumborak]

No. Any man above the age of 15 should know how reproduction, and contraception works.

rumborak

[rumborak]

My roommate told me today that it took her some time today to figure out that it wasn't Alex, Neil and Geddy who said something nasty (since the news at this point often just say "Rush")

rumborak

[hefdaddy42]

No. Any man above the age of 15 should know how reproduction, and contraception works.

rumborak

This.

BTW, one thing that has been lost in all this is one of the main reasons Ms. Fluke was even testifying about birth control: the medicinal side effects of birth control.  Many women are on the pill for those reasons, not for their contraceptive effects.

[snapple]

I don't know the science of it. Different birth controls work in different ways. I get the gist of it, but I don't know HOW the pill actually does it's fancy chemical magic tricks. Saying all men should know how it works is ludicrous. We don't take it, some of us are gay, some of us will never get action, some of us don't care how it works (just that it does).

[rumborak]

You don't need to know what chemicals are involved. But honestly, not knowing that female contraception works by fooling the body into constant pregnancy is, IMHO, incredible ignorance of a daily aspect of millions of US women.

rumborak

[snapple]

You don't need to know what chemicals are involved. But honestly, not knowing that female contraception works by fooling the body into constant pregnancy is, IMHO, incredible ignorance of a daily aspect of millions of US women.

rumborak

People are ignorant? What else can I say?

he accidentally admitted to millions of people that he doesn't understand how birth control works.

I don't see a reason to knock him for this point. It's asinine. That's when it becomes nitpicking. He knows what it does but not how it works. OH BOY, BREAK OUT THEM TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS!

[bosk1]

I get the point of this thread, and somewhat agree.  But wishing death one someone isn't something we support here.

EDIT:  Okay, by request of a few who want to keep the discussion going (which I am fine with), I just changed the thread title and am unlocking it. 

[Dr. DTVT]

Here's something I've been pondering lately...why don't we see liberal pundits put their foot in their mouth as often as conservative ones seem to, and maybe just as importantly, what does this say about the extreme right?  Part of it seems like a numbers game because I can name several more right-wing pundits than  liberal ones, but it seems like its always the right wing ones that seem to make complete fools of themselves.

[bosk1]

To me, they do, but just don't get called on it.  But IMO, it doesn't really matter.  They're all about equally irrelevant, IMO.  But as someone else pointed out to me, this is becoming a campaign issue when, IMO, it shouldn't be a campaign issue at all.  IMO, the perfect response is along the lines of what Santorum said when asked.  To paraphrase, it was basically:  "Rush does talk radio.  He says absurd things for a living.  I'm not too concerned about his opinions.  Next question?"

[TempusVox]

Here's something I've been pondering lately...why don't we see liberal pundits put their foot in their mouth as often as conservative ones seem to, and maybe just as importantly, what does this say about the extreme right?  Part of it seems like a numbers game because I can name several more right-wing pundits than  liberal ones, but it seems like its always the right wing ones that seem to make complete fools of themselves.

As Bosk pointed out they do. I think what happens is the right wing camp gets pointed at and.scrutinized more often. Just my opinion. But sometimes BOTH sides say really stupid things.

Also I want to apologize.for the thread title earlier. It really wasnt cool. And if Mr. Limbaugh or anyone.in his family were offended I regret what I said. But his.words are  now  a campaign issue which is really dumb and not what we should be focused on.

[Scheavo]

To me, they do, but just don't get called on it.  But IMO, it doesn't really matter.  They're all about equally irrelevant, IMO.  But as someone else pointed out to me, this is becoming a campaign issue when, IMO, it shouldn't be a campaign issue at all.  IMO, the perfect response is along the lines of what Santorum said when asked.  To paraphrase, it was basically:  "Rush does talk radio.  He says absurd things for a living.  I'm not too concerned about his opinions.  Next question?"

It's a campaign issue because Santorum, and other Republicans, have made it out as if they actually have the same opinion. Santorum is on camera, saying in nicer terms, the same fundamental thing as Rush. Romney said it wouldn't have been his choice of words (but the man is a complete enigma on the issue). And Rush didn't even apologize for what he was saying, he just apologized for his word choice.

[bosk1]

And Rush didn't even apologize for what he was saying, he just apologized for his word choice.

Whether you agree or disagree with his position, his word choice should be the only thing he need apologize for.  He is entitled to his political views, whether they are right or wrong.

[TL]

To me, they do, but just don't get called on it.  But IMO, it doesn't really matter.  They're all about equally irrelevant, IMO. 

No, those who hold any kind of weight on the left tend to be much more measured in their statements.
I offer you this opportunity to provide an example of someone on the left, of equal or higher stature to Limbaugh within their political grouping, saying something as offensive as Limbaugh's recent comments, or even just Limbaugh's usual rhetoric.

The extreme right in America do tend to be much more aggressive, and more willing to go for the low blow. The major Republican candidates for president this year all regularly complain that Obama is actively trying to destroy the country, and often throw blatantly false accusations at him and 'Liberals' to get votes. There's criticism, and then there's foul play. They're deep into the latter. When was the last time a major Democratic presidential candidate accused a republican president of trying to destroy the country? When was the last time a massively listened to talking head on the left blatantly made shit up to attack the right?

[Scheavo]

And Rush didn't even apologize for what he was saying, he just apologized for his word choice.

Whether you agree or disagree with his position, his word choice should be the only thing he need apologize for.  He is entitled to his political views, whether they are right or wrong.

Word choice isn't the only reason what he said was offensive. It goes deeper than that.

[Orbert]

Whether you agree or disagree with his position, his word choice should be the only thing he need apologize for.  He is entitled to his political views, whether they are right or wrong.

If you publicly call someone a prostitute, apologizing for your choice of words is not enough.  You have slandered that person (or libelled - I still don't know the difference) and choosing "nicer" words doesn't change that.

[bosk1]

I offer you this opportunity to provide an example of someone on the left, of equal or higher stature to Limbaugh within their political grouping, saying something as offensive as Limbaugh's recent comments, or even just Limbaugh's usual rhetoric.

And I will respectfully decline, other than to say it happens every single day.  But I don't want to waste either of our time nitpicking over examples and debating about which is "worse," because (1) we won't agree anyway, and (2) it will take me much longer than I care to spend to cull specific examples because I don't waste my time listening to pundits on the left to have such a list ready at my disposal. 

When was the last time a major Democratic presidential candidate accused a republican president of trying to destroy the country?

Um...how about right around four years ago, for example? 

[Super Dude]

Who said that?

[kirksnosehair]

And Rush didn't even apologize for what he was saying, he just apologized for his word choice.

Whether you agree or disagree with his position, his word choice should be the only thing he need apologize for.  He is entitled to his political views, whether they are right or wrong.

So, if he used different words to tell an audience of up to 25 million listeners that a woman should film herself having sex for everyone to watch it then it wouldn't be a big deal?  Bosk, really?  I agree with what you're articulating here, that he's entitled to his political views, but come on man, it was a lot more than a poor choice of words.  What he said was offensive. 

[TL]

No. The Democratic candidates 4 years ago never said anything close to even some of the more mild things the Republican candidates have been throwing around this time.
I'm not saying they never criticized Bush or the Republicans. I'm saying they didn't regularly make shit up, and throw blatantly false accusations all over the place. The GOP debates this time around are full of that.

Also, if you're going to insist that left wing talking heads of Limbaugh's status say things that are just as inflammatory as Limbaugh's comments, providing a single example shouldn't be difficult.

If Limbaugh had voiced in an articulate way that he was opposed to government funding of health care, then whether one agreed or not, he would be entitled to that opinion. It's the specifics of what he said.

[Scheavo]

Saying Bush was bad for the country, or even exaggerating into saying he destroyed the country, isn't saying he intentionally destroyed the country. Republicans are saying Obama is trying to destroy the country, he's some sort of Manchurian Candidate, trying to take us down, intentionally.